2004 T-2753 with hail damage to siding, should we total it?

Rodgec · 09-06-2019, 08:22 AM

Hi, we have a 2004 T-2753 Solaris that went through a Hail Storm and the insurance company wants to Total it for $5500.00.
We really enjoy our T-2753 and believe it is still a solid Sunline. The dents in the siding are fairly prominent. We need to replace the siding, canaopy, and repaint the new siding. Ins said it will cost over $8500 to repair, so they are going to total it for $5500.00.

Should we cancel the claim, or re-title with the damageget some ins money, or total it for the $5500?
We spend about $500 - $800 year on maintenance. We believe it is still in great shape.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Chuck and Maria T-2753 since 2004

**Sunline Fan** · 09-06-2019, 01:42 PM

Sorry to hear your trailer was damaged in the hail storm.

Without the hail damage, $5500 seems like a fair selling price if you were to have sold it before the storm. Maybe a little higher, but then there's often some wiggle room with insurance offers too. If it doesn't have any water damage (best if you can prove with a moisture meter), I think that would help your case to get more from them, say $6500.
Granted I've never had a claim like that, so I don't know.

The siding itself isn't very expensive, it's the labor that gets you. New siding will come pre-painted, so there's no need to paint. Replacing the siding is something you could do yourself, but it is a big job. My biggest fear is finding hidden water damage when you remove the siding. Plus, while you're at it, it wouldn't be a bad idea to replace the rubber roof while everything is apart. The material for that is cheap in the big picture.

If you like the trailer and it doesn't have water damage, I would encourage you to investigate finding someone who can re-side it. At least get a quote to see where it stands. Finding another in similar shape won't be that easy, and this way you know what has been done with this one.

Remember if you follow the claim and get a salvage title, it will automatically scare away any future buyers and reduce the price. With a clean title, new siding could be looked at as a selling point because everything will be resealed and new. Of course then you'd be on the hook for all the repair costs then.

EMD_Driver knew someone who did RV repairs on the side who was in WV or VA I think- that might be a good place to look. I would personally avoid any RV dealers, especially large ones, because it'll be a huge cost at shop rates.

Rodgec · 09-06-2019, 03:51 PM

Thanks for the feedback,

Duw to the cost of repair at $8000 plus, the ins company decided to total it and the price between 2 different RV dealers was $5500.

I have been looking at the roof and this year I was going to redo all the seals on the roof(RV dealer would do the work).
I know this would be a few dollars, however, i really appreciate the comments on this forum.

We started looking for other TT but really need to learn what RV's are good quality first before we start looking at floor plans.
There are so many options out there!

Thanks,
Chuck and Maria T-2753 Solaris

J&A Lima Oh · 09-06-2019, 08:36 PM

If the ins. co. totals it, ask what they would take for it after they pay you, for the condition you say it was in I would push them for $6000 or have them buy you one like it in good condition delivered. Make sure they take into cosideration condition of tires Etc.
Depending on what they want I may be interested.

johnnybgood · 09-07-2019, 05:19 AM

Not sure how many dents you have or how large, but filling them and repainting is a cheap option.

I recently repaired many dents and repainted my camper. It’s not perfect but looks good. Was hard to make all the dents totally disappear.

sodbuster · 09-12-2019, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rodgec

Hi, we have a 2004 T-2753 Solaris that went through a Hail Storm and the insurance company wants to Total it for $5500.00.
We really enjoy our T-2753 and believe it is still a solid Sunline. The dents in the siding are fairly prominent. We need to replace the siding, canaopy, and repaint the new siding. Ins said it will cost over $8500 to repair, so they are going to total it for $5500.00.

Should we cancel the claim, or re-title with the damageget some ins money, or total it for the $5500?
We spend about $500 - $800 year on maintenance. We believe it is still in great shape.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Chuck and Maria T-2753 since 2004

buy it back ask how much they mite take off 600 on your clam i have done this with cars

Ken E Boyer · 09-12-2019, 11:25 AM

I don't know if this will work on aluminum or not but I will run this by you anyway. We visited Disney Park in Florida in 1993 and I met a fellow there who just loved the hail storms. Why? He did auto body work and he made a lot of money from removing hail dents from cars. The insurance company then paid him $.50 a ding. He would heat the ding area with a commercial spot hot air heater and then instantly spray LIQUID CO2 on it that came out at 300 degrees below ). That cold blast suddenly shrunk the metal tight and and flat and that was the end of the dings! I have used this system too. I am from PA and in early '93' we had a terrible hail storm that damaged many, many new cars in our area. They looked like someone had used a ball-peen hammers on them. Also many Heat pumps and AC Condensing units were rendered useless by that storm. We replaced them with units that had solid screens that protected the coils from Kids, soda bottle rub out and the like. The Heat/CO2, liquid may save you a lot of money.

suebobby · 09-12-2019, 01:16 PM

Having sold new and used Sunlines for years, the offer sounds very fair.

Phil_K_TN · 09-12-2019, 02:13 PM

We were in a very similar predicament a couple of months ago with our 2001 T2370. I hung the side on a dumpster coming out of a campground with a very tight right turn. To increase the problem, we had pulled to the right for a rig coming in and didn't get far enough out to miss the dumpster, which had been emptied and didn't get pushed back in the proper place as far as it should have been. Broke a window and smashed one of the doors, and bent the siding from the front door on down to the back edge. The estimator said it would cost over $9800 to repair, and he told me that he'd found water damage and mold and a spongy floor that could be a problem also. There was a 50 hour labor at $110 per hour estimated. I asked him about totally restoring the trailer from the frame up and the cost was almost double of what we gave for it 18 years ago. The insurance company paid me just more than half of what I gave for it back then. We sure hated to see ours go to because of so many great memories made in 18 years.

Now, here's something my insurance agent told me to do. Dealing with their claims department was a nightmare. I would have gotten very little money if I kept the camper and they paid me a settlement. I got the name of the salvage company that would get the trailer (CoParts), and went to their website. My trailer is not listed yet, but when I called them to inquire, they said it would be 2-3 months before they would list it in their inventory, and there would be on-line bidding for it. If it did not sell on-line for what they thought it was worth, then it would go to public auction in a sale, for highest bid, period. Good luck in whatever you decide to do.